Door for freight-cars.



PATENTED APR. 2 19 07.

' Ji VAN SLYKE. DOOR FOR FREIGHT CARS. APPLIUATION FILED JAN.12,1906.

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110449.291. I PATBNfIED APR. 2, 1907.

J. VAN SLYKE.

DOOR FOR FREIGHT CARS.

. APPLIUATIOH FILED JAN. 12, 1905.

RSHEETB-BHIIBT H- 15,12 k rm 25 .52 60 x 63L x m 5 f 1 v v y WITN 555: V r V M ATTORNEYS JAMES VAN SLYKE, OF SHELLROCK, IOWA.

DOOR FOR FREIGHT-CARS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented April 2, 1907.

Application filerl January 12, 1906. Serial No. 295,815

To all whom it may) comw' m Be ,it known that l. J.-\.\u-:s \Zix Sunni, a

. citizen of the United States. residing at Shellrock, in the county of Butler and $tu-te of Iowa, have invented a new and useful Door for Frel ht-Cars, -ot which the tollowmg 1s a r b specification.

This invention relates to doors for freight cars; and among the objects of the invention are-to facilitate "the opcniugund closing of the. door at all times and under all conditions, to provide Torthe snug and tight closing of the door, to permit the latter to swing outward -when necessary in order to "sists in the improved construction and novel enuble'it to be manipulated. and to simplify and improve the general construction and operation of the door.

Withfthese and other ends in view, which will readily appear as the nature of the invention is better understood, the same conarrange'ment and combination of parts, which will be hereinafter fully described, and particularly pointed out in the claims.

In" the accompanying drawin s has been illustrated aJsim'ple and preferrecfform of the invention, it being, however, understood that no limitation is necessarily made to the prerise structural details therein iexhibitechbut that changes, alterations, and modifications within the scope of the invention may be inade when dGSIIGCl.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a erspective.

I view of a portion of afrei lit-car, s owing the rights or side members 1 and 2, t .3, and the lintcl-bar 4. This frame serves Corresponding parts in the several figures are indicated throughout by similar characters of reference.

The door-o ening A in the side B of an ordinary freig t-car is surrounded by an exteriorly disposed --frame, includin the up- Tqe sill-bar to offset the door outwardly from the side upon the rear door-post 8.

of the car, spacing the door from the side,

so that the door i'nay-move easily and without direct frictiona' contact with the car side. 'lhe sillbar 3 is extended in the direction in which the car-door opens, as clearly seen in Fig. 1 of the drawings, so as to form a support for the lower end of a cleat 5, which is secured upon the inside of the door and which when the door moves to anopen p sition serves to engage a post 6, secured ertically upon the side of the car and constituting a stop member. The edge of the door near which the cleat 5 is secured will be described as the rear edge, and the opposite end and edge of the "door will be described as the front end and edge. whole is designated D:

The frontedge of the cleat 5 is beveled, as shown at 6, and is adapted when the door is closed to engage the correspondingly-beveled rear edge. of the upright 2, which is secured The frontedge of the door D is beveled, as shown at 9, and is adapted when the door is closed to engage the correspondingly-beveled rear edge of cleat '11, which is connected with the .up-

right 1, which latter is secured upon the front door-post'1'2. The beveled contacting'ed es of the parts j st described are protected by angle-irons, as 13'. It will be seen that when the door is closed, as shown in Fig. 3 of the drawings, the bevelededges 6 7 and 9 10 will be in close engagement, While the lower portionof the door is" in intimate contact with-the sill-bar 3 and'its upper portion with the linteLbar 4, and the door will thus constitute a very tight and closely-fitting closure: Any tendency of the door to warp will be counteracted by. the beveled engaging ed es. 4 The door D maybe constructed of wood or of metal or of Wood and metal combined. In

the drawings a door has been shown con structed mainly of wood, but reinforced with metallic straps and braces, and it is desired to be understood that these straps and braces are to be applied wherever they may be needed. The door is provided with hangers 14, each carryin a pair of pulleys 16. A track is provide for these pulle s, consisting of a T-rail 17, which is provic ed with eyebolts 18, hingedly engaging a rod .19, which issupported in lugs-or brackets upon the car, so that the said T-rail will be capable of swinging upon the supporting-rod 19. The upper and lower pulleys and 16 are designed to engage the upper and lower sides of the web of the rail 17, the head of which serves to keep the pulleys in engagement with the track and to prevent the possihility of accidental displacement of the pullower end of the latter, as clearly seen in Fig.

2 of the drawings. This guard-rail is capable of swin ing down to the position indicated in dotted Tines in Fig. 2 and when the guardrail is in this position the lower end of the door may be swung outward from the side of the car, as likewise shown in dotted lines in Fig. 2, the supporting-rail 17 swinging upon its supporting-rod 19, as will be readily understood. For the purpose of securing the guard-rail 22 in its normal raised position in engagement with the lower end of .the cardoor fastenin means are provided, the con struction of wTiich will be best understood by reference to Fig. 6 of the drawings. -These fastenin means comprise straps or brackets 23, whic are secured upon. the ends of the guard-rail and which have portions extending inwardly over the guard-rail-and provided with apertures 24, adapted to aline with sockets 2-5, that are secured, respectively, upon the .cleat 11 and upon the"stop member 6. Secured upon the cleat -11- and upon the stop member 6 in vertical alinement with the sockets 25 are housings 26 for bolts 27, which are provided with operatinghandles 28, that are slidable in slots 29 in the housings and capable of engaging notches 30,

. that extend laterally from said slots,thereby permitting. the bolts to be adjusted vertically and to be secured at various adjustments. The lower notch 30 is extended about one-half of the circumference of the housing more or less, so as to enable the bolt to be turned upon its axis to the extent of about one-half of a revolution. Each of the bolts 27 is provided at its lower end with'an eccentrically-disposed pin or extension 31, that constitutes the engaging portion of the bolt, which is adapted to engage the aperture 24 in the cor-res onding bracket 23. By this construction wen the guard-rail 22 is moved to the door-engaging )osition (shown in full lines in Fig. 2) and the olts are placed in engaging position with the aperture 24 then by turnin the bolts axially the eccentrio-pins 25 wilT draw the brackets 23 in the direction of thesidepf the car, thus causing the guard-rail to move in the direction of and to clamp the lower. end of the door, which will be thus securely held free'from rattling and in such a manner as to eifect a tight and ellicient closure. By making the lower notches 30 sufliciently long the handles 28, whereby the bolts are operated, may be moved slightly past a dead-center, and the bolts will thus be locked against reasonable possibility of accidental disengagement.

The door is provided near its front edge with a fastening member, consisting of a hasp 32, having a tongue 33, adapted to engage a slot 34 in a plate 35, which is secured upon the cleat 11 and which has-a flange 36 hooking over the front edge of said cleat. The plate also carries a staple 37, adapted to be engaged by the hasp 32. The tongue 33,. engaging the slot 34, serves to assist in drawing the door to a'tightly-closed position, after which it may be secured by means of a seal or locking device applied to the staple 37.

The door proper, D, is provided with an opening 38 in the upper half thereof, and for this opening a closure 39 is provided, which is adapted to slide between a pair of guidecleats 40, secured vertically u on the outer side or face of the door 1) atjacent to the opening 38 and extending beneath the latter. Upon the door -D,.near the lower edge of said door, is secured a flange 41, constituting a stop member upon which the closure39 maybe supported when it is moved to an -unob-, structing position with relation to the opening 38. Upon the closure 39 there is hingedly mounted a handle 42, having a pivoted pin 43, .whichextends through an aperture in the body of the closure and which is adapted to engage any one of a series of recesses 44 in the face of the door 'D, said apertures extending through a reinforcing-strap 45, secured vertically upon the face ofthe door. When the closurev 39 is in an obstructing position with relation to the opening 38, the pin 43 engages the edge of the door at the bottom of said. aperture, as will be seen in Fig. 20f the drawings. The free end of the handle 42 is bifurcatedor provided with a slot or notch 46, straddling a headed stud 47, which is secured upon the closure member 39 and which is provided with a transverse perforae tion 43 for thcreception of means-such as a pin, a cotter, or the hasp of a padlockwhereby the handle 42 may be secured against movement in an outward direction. The pin '43, will thus be secured in engagement with the recess 44 or with the edge of the door, thus locking the closure 39 in any position to which it may have been adjusted. The closure member is preferably provided at the edges thereof with metallic flange members 49, engaging the guide-cleats 40, which are likewise constructed, preferably, of metal. A very close and tight fit will thus be insured and all tendency to warping will be counteracted and overcome.

The car-door D is )rovided with an open.

ing or recess 50, in w iich there is swiveled anut 51, adapted to engage a bolt 52, which ICC may be placed in engagement with said nut from the inside ot the car. The bolt 52 1s ,PIOVlClGd with an eye 53, whereby it 18 con- 4 nected with a chain 54, for the reception of which a suitably-disposed housing 55'is provided. This housing, as illustrated in Fig. .2 of the drawings, may be arranged beneath the floor of the car; but it is desired to be distinctly understood that said housing may be arranged in any suitable and desired locat-ion. (shown in the drawings as extending through the car-floor) for the assage of'the chain 55%, which latter is provi ed with a stop member 57, which prevents the chain from being entirely withdrawn through the aperture. Said aperture also serves as a housing for the accommodation of the bolt 52, which may thus be stored in an out-of-the-way position when not in use. The chain 54 is made of such a length that when the bolt 52 is placed in engagement with the put 50 and the latter is tightened the entire door D will be forcibly drawn and tightened agaii'ist the frame com- )osed of the members 1, 2, 3, and 4, and thus orming a closure sufiieiently tight to prevent the leakage of grain or any kind of merchandise of a similar nature which maybe stored or packed in bulk in the car.

Upon the underside of the lintel-bar t there are secured lugs or ears 58, having pins Y 59, with'which are pivotally connected pairs of arms 60, carrying overlapping panels 61,

Which-are ada ted to swing flat against the inside of the coor D in alinement with the opening'38 in the latter, thus constituting an inside closure for said 0 ening. These panels' may be independent y secured in a raised and outof--the-way position by means of s ring-catches 62, dependingfrom the roof of the car, it being understood that the lower panel may be moved to a door-engaging positionindependently of the upper panel.

, These panels are retained ina door-engaging position by no other means than the inside pressure of the material, such as gram, that may be loaded in the car, and by the use of these panels the car may be loaded practically to the roof without danger of leakage. Thus by the use of the improved door of the present invention the use of auxiliary socalled grain-doors may be dispensed with.

From the foregoing description, taken in connection with the drawings hereto an nexed, the operation and advantages of this invention will be readily understood by those skilled in the art to which it appertains. A car equipped with doors constructed according to the resent invention may be. utilized for hauingall kinds of freight. The contents of thecar may be readily inspected by opening the auxiliaryafi'ordventilation to'theinteriorof the car,

Said housing has an aperture 56,

- contact with the door an but without. possibility of entering the latter.

If by any possibility, such as the shifting of most car-doors as ordinarily constructed is thereby entirely overcome.

The general construction of the improved car-door is simple and inexpensive, and it may be readily applied to fii'eight-cars of ordinary construction, it being. understood that the invent-ionis equally applicable to doors and cars constructed of wood and of metal. r

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed is 1. A slidably-supported car-door capable of swinging outwardly at its lower end, a hingedly-supported guard member ada ted to engage the lower end of the door and raving apertured brackets, suitabl 'sup orted housings; and bolts slidable an osci latory in said housings and having eccentric terminal-engagin members.

2. The com ination with a slidablysupported car-door capable of, swinging and means for preventing vertical movement of the door; of a bottom guardrail 'hingedly mounted below and normally out of contact with the door and ada ted to overlap the bottom portion of the d dor, said rail constituting a guide for the door when sliding, and means at each end of the rail for looking it in guiding position. 1

The combination with a hinged supporting-rail and a longitudinally-movable car-door suspended from and held against vertical movement by the rail and disposed to swing therewith; of a hinged bottom guard-strip normally out of contact with the door and adapted to overlap the lower edge of the oar-door and to constitute a guide therefor throughout the longitudinal movement of the door, said guard-strip adapted to prey vent swinging of the door.

4. The combination with a hin ed supportin rail and a car-door sue on ed from and a apted to move longitudinally of the 'rail and. to swing therewith, said rail holding the door against vertical movement; of a, hinged bottom guard-stri normally out 01' adapted to overlap the lower edge of the car-door and to constitute a guide therefor throughout the longitudinal movement of the door, said guard-strip adapted to prevent swinging of the door, and means adjacent the ends of the strip for looking it in overlap ing position.

5. The combination with aqiinged supporting-rail. and a car-door suspended from and ICO ' adapted to prevnt swinging; of the door, and. to: stop oleats fixedly secured hotwee-n the ends with the door and adapted to ovorhtpthe adaptedlo move lon itudinally of the rail and to, swingtherewit 1, snidra il holding the door against vort-ical movement; of a hinged bottom guard-strip normany out of Contact 1 of the guard-strip and supporting-rail and t the path of the longitudinally-movablo door. I my own I have hereto affixed my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

lower echo of tho oar-door and to oonstltute r w 1 v' V 1 v I r i AS A- T k a gll-l dfllfilflefol throughout the longltudmnl i VAA SL1 movement of the door, said guard-strip Witrwsso:

; Juf- CARTER,

i B. SJSTODDARD.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as 

